John Renwick enlisted in New Orleans in May 1861 the 3rd Louisiana Infantry as its sergeant major. Renwick was a native of LaGrange, Georgia, and a graduate of the Kentucky Military Institute; he is wearing his Kentucky Military Institute uniform in the photograph.
Renwick and the 3rd Louisiana were part of General Ben McCulloch’s Confederate brigade brought to Missouri in July 1861. At the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861, McCulloch’s forces were caught in their camps when General Nathaniel Lyon launched a surprise attack. Renwick and the 3rd Louisiana were sent to hold the right flank of the Confederate line; Renwick was killed in the initial volley from U. S. Regulars in the Ray Cornfield. He was the first member of his regiment to be killed in the Civil War.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30835
